Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4.411J/EC.713J D-Lab Schools: Building Technology Laboratory
Course Overview, Schedule, Text and Grading Information
September 3, 2014
Units:
2-4-6 (Institute Lab)
Prerequisites: 8.01, 18.01
Instructors:
Les Norford
5-418
253-8797
lnorford@mit.edu
TA:
Aiko Nakano
anakano@mit.edu
Sessions:
Lecture
Wednesday, 9:30-11:00 a.m., 1-132
Lab
Monday 2:00-5:00 p.m., N51-348
Office hours to be announced
Overview
This term the course focuses on the design and technical analysis of a community library/afterschool school in Makuleke, Limpopo Province, South Africa and, with anticipated collaboration
from in-country organizations, schools in the Transkei region of Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The focus on the physical environment for education builds on previous work within the
Building Technology Program for schools in Cambodia, Haiti, Pakistan and Sierra Leone.
Studies focused on Makuleke will be coordinated with two NGOs, the U.S. Africa Children’s
Fellowship (USACF) and its partner in South Africa, Sharing to Learn and will extend promising
work begun last year. Work in Eastern Cape will engage Ubank, a bank specializing in microfinances and a supporter of miners, other blue-collar workers and now schools, and engineers
engaged in constructing new schools. Investigations will include educational needs South
Africa; locally available building materials and construction methods; climate and thermal
comfort; daylighting, ventilation and thermal conditions inside simulated and or physically
modeled classrooms; wall and roof design, including preparation and testing of low-cement
blocks; electrical power and water systems; and preparation of a list of local and imported
materials.
The course is set up as a series of short studies and lab-based projects, to be performed in teams
formed to take best advantage of the skill sets of class participants. Necessary in-class
instruction in simulation software will be supplemented by a series of evening tutorials to be
presented by the Department of Architecture. Results of these investigations will be compiled in
a report, prepared in stages and submitted in final version at the end of the term.
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Initial studies will concern education in South Africa and the work of USACF, STL and Ubank,
a development of a program for a prototype school, and assessment of regional climate, building
materials and construction techniques. This work will include opportunity to interact with
USACF and its partners, in person and remotely, and will culminate in the development and
presentation of school designs.
A substantial part of the course will then focus on technical studies to assess and improve the
expected performance of the school. Building energy balances and thermal dynamics will be
studied via an experimental investigation of difference roof materials and via the very capable
simulation package EnergyPlus, accessed via a CAD model constructed in Rhino and the Viper
program available in the DIVA suite of tools.
A second study takes up natural ventilation, needed to remove heat generated by the occupants
and, as a function of window shading, by the sun. This lab will include a suitable combination of
physical tests and simulations. Tests in model buildings will use MIT’s Wright Brothers wind
tunnel to visualize and measure airflows and measure surface pressures that are needed to
estimate airflow through building openings.. Simulations will be made with two software tools:
CoolVent, a dynamic simulations of indoor temperature changes due to airflows, and a
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program, Cradle scSTREAM, to examine airflow patterns
in and around classrooms.
Materials and structures for schools in developing countries merit attention. Cement, a key
component of the ubiquitous concrete, is environmentally and fiscally expensive. Walls and
roofs must provide structural integrity, resist wind and rain, and permit openings needed for
daylight and ventilation. Our study will include instruction in the load calculations and
fabrication and testing of low-cost bricks appropriate for South Africa.
Daylighting is important in schools that initially may have little or no electricity or other means
of providing light. Illuminance measurements in MIT classrooms and other spaces will establish
reasonable lighting levels, which will be compared with DIVA simulations of daylight
availability in a Rhino model.
Recommended text
Illumination Engineering From Edison’s Lamp to the Laser Second Edition
Joseph B. Murdoch
2003, Vision Communications
ISBN 1-885750-05-6
This book, needed in about a third of the course, is available at the Coop and via online retailers
and has been placed on reserve at Rotch Library. Single copies of earlier editions are also
available at Barker and Hayden libraries.
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Open Courseware
Course material on OCW is a snapshot of the Spring 2004 lab; the OCS site is a good place for
about 50% of the lecture material that will be used this fall:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Architecture/4-411Spring2004/CourseHome/index.htm
Stellar
This course has a Stellar site, where homework assignments and instructions will be posted and
where lab reports can be submitted electronically. http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/4/fa12/4.411/
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Tentative Schedule
Lecture
9/3
Course overview and review of building technology studies of schools in
developing countries
Introduction to the work of US Africa Children’s Fellowship (USACF)
and Sharing to Learn (STL), discussion of preliminary program (including
after-school community use) for a community library/after-school school
in Makuleke, South Africa
Introduction to schools in Eastern Cape
Formation of project teams
Thermal comfort and climate fundamentals
Lab
9/8
Lecture
9/10
Refinement of program and interaction with USACF and/or STL
Investigation of education in South Africa
Climate investigation with Climate Consultant and investigation of
building materials
Thermal comfort and climate fundamentals, continued
Introduction to local and regional construction materials and building
technologies
Lab
9/15
Lecture
9/17
Lab
9/22
Lecture
9/24
Lab
9/29
Lecture
10/1
Investigation and presentation of climate, building materials and
construction methods
Introduction to steady-state and dynamic thermal modeling
Construction of simple test rig for thermal performance of roofs
Steady-state and dynamic thermal modeling, continued
Testing of roof options, including sheet metal, sheet metal with insulation,
sheet metal with reflective paint and thatch or equivalent (need to measure
radiation and surface temperatures in steady-state conditions)
Thermal dynamics, continued; introduction to Rhino, grasshopper and
Viper interface to EnergyPlus for energy modeling
Parametric energy simulations and adjustment of materials and window
shading
Fundamentals of natural ventilation: hydrostatic equation, ideal gas law,
Bernoulli’s equation, orifice equation; guidelines for interim report #1
10/3
Add Date
Lab
10/6
Lecture
10/8
Presentation of energy measurement and modeling results; preparation of
models for airflow measurements with pressure sensors, hot-wire
anemometer and flow visualization
Buoyancy- and wind-driven airflows; turbulence-driven airflows; scaling
relationships; interim report #1 due
10/13
Columbus Day holiday
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Lecture
10/15
Nodal airflow simulations with CoolVent and computational fluid
dynamics; airflow simulation with Cradle scSTREAM
Assignment: preparation and use of CoolVent and CFD models
Lab
10/20
Lecture
10/22
Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel tests of school classroom and airflow
simulations
Continued airflow simulation with CoolVent and CFD; discussion of
results
Lab
10/27
Lecture
10/29
Structural design, materials and construction; brick-making with
alternative available materials
Structural analysis of walls and roofs; estimating point and distributed
structural loads; sizing wall and roof elements to meet loads; factors of
safety
Lab
Lecture
11/3
11/5
Compression testing of low-cost bricks at seven-day strength
Wall and roof design; guidelines for interim report #2
Lecture
11/10-11 Veteran’s Day holiday
11/12
Lighting fundamentals and lighting measurements; luminance and
illuminance calculations, illuminance standards; daylighting guidelines;
interim report #2 due
Lab
11/17
Lecture
11/19
Lab
11/24
Illuminance measurements in campus classrooms; development and use of
lighting simulation model.
Luminous efficacy of light sources; inverse square law and applications;
zonal-cavity method for lighting design; daylight factors
Drop Date
Lecture
Incorporation of natural ventilation in energy simulations; photovoltaic
systems
11/26
Sources and uses of electricity: electricity grid, photovoltaic systems, fans,
lights, computers
11/27-28 Thanksgiving holidays
Lab
12/1
Lecture
12/3
Lab
Lecture
12/8
12/10
integrated design (materials, lighting, power, ventilation, thermal comfort,
furnishings); guidelines for final report
Next steps for school construction in South Africa; ongoing work on
buildings in other developing countries
final presentation of all work; preparation of final report
Final report due
Last day of classes
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Grading:
The course grade will be based on participation in class and lab reports. Weekly assignments
will require work that will be incorporated into the reports and may be presented orally in labs
for discussion and feedback but will not be graded.
Participation is crucial to the success of the course. Attendance in lab and lecture will be noted.
Poor attendance, particularly in lab, will result in a reduced grade.
You will typically be encouraged to work in groups of 2-4, depending on the lab and available
resources. Lab reports are prepared on a group basis: one report per group. Groups may be
changed during the term, as a function of the needs of students and the discretion of the
instructor.
Course work will be weighted as follows:
Interim report #1
Interim report #2
Final report
Attendance and participation
25%
25%
40%
10%
Interim reports must be submitted on time, subject only to extraordinary circumstances beyond
academic workload. Late interim lab reports will be penalized 10% of full credit; reports more
than one late will receive no credit. The final report may be submitted as late as 5 p.m. on
Monday, December 16 with no grading penalty; submittals after this date and time will receive
no credit. Lab reports will be returned within one week of submittal. Schedule adjustments will
be considered as necessary to accommodate major studio reviews, other significant deadlines, or
the impact of local weather on experimental work.
Academic integrity is a serious issue. Data sources must include attribution. Lab reports must
reflect the thoughts and efforts of team members, unless noted.
There is no final exam in this course and there will be no quizzes.
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